People who specialize in taking pictures of events have the advantage of knowing when the event will take place. They can set up their camera carefully, in the perfect position for optimum quality. Want to take a picture of a sunset? Sunsets, you absolutely know what time it will occur. Want a really good picture of a sunset? Set that camera up on a night when there are a lot of clouds. Many clouds make beautiful sunsets. But taking pictures of the happenings here on the nature channel is a hit and miss adventure.

E has had a miserable time of it for the last two days. Peaceful hours sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of a townhouse could start to sound appealing. The combination of the skins doctor’s blow torch on his keratoses, (keretoses are a side effect of the drugs he has to take), a giant boulder landing on his finger and a particularly ugly boat trip in the wind brought him to the deck yesterday afternoon with a beer in his hand, and a sigh as he slumped in his chair. The heavy 75 sunscreen freshly slathered on his face, was caught in his two-day growth of beard giving him a Santa kinda of look, if Santa looks exhausted.

But then we heard it. The unmistakable sound which we have learned to discern, even if necessary, through the roaring sound of waves. It had been a particularly windy day yesterday. My daughter and I had listened to the waves beneath the deck all afternoon while E had gone to town. But then we heard “it”. But “it” sounded so close.. They are rarely so close.

We jumped up to go to the railing and there, right below our deck, were the three whales who have been hanging around the area for the last two months. Two adults and a baby. If they had spouted we would have been soaked. So close! Whale visits tend to rarely happen when my daughter is here. Yesterdays was as good as it gets.

The camera, of course was nowhere near us. The whales had given us no notice of the impeding arrival. You can’t plan on their visit. Although, it helps if you have a deck hanging over the water and keep your ears open for that unmistakable sound. You can’t set up your camera for the perfect moment. It’s a hit or miss photo opportunity. Yesterdays was a miss.

We returned to our seats on the deck. E, still with his sore finger, aching bones and sore scalp, had a smile on his face.

“Incredible”, he smiled.